1 Year of Drivel

Today, Sept 8, 2006 marks the 1 year anniversary of Pure Drivel. I'd like to do a little reflection of how it went.

September 2005 marked the introduction of Pure Drivel. In my first post, I state my intentions.

"This is not to say that this will be a total politically-oriented site. I'm not really that into politics. I usually try not to think about how people I select in November are abusing my rights and my hard-earned money. So I'll write about sports, science, technology, or whatever I happen to feel like mentioning on a particular day."

I think I have stayed true to this purpose in not making this blog too focused on any particular topic.

However, I did emphasize some of my political views last September with Presidential Power, A New Kind of Liberal, and Where Do We Go From Here? I am a political conservative and I show some of that here. The latter was first of a two-parter where I state my strong belief in having a space program.

October 2005 had more variety. I wrap up the space program entry with The Solution and I expose another blogger's utter lack of logic in Facts. After one year, I have more reservations than ever about calling something a "fact". It's a dangerous word to use and one can only be proved wrong in using it. I got into baseball and hockey this month as well.

November 2005 is where I got into the liberal media. This is a common complaint amongst us conservatives where mainstream media takes liberal views and paints them as "normal" while conservatives are always "extremists" or "out of touch". Instead of pointing out what is considered traditional media such as TV news or newspapers, I point out how the liberal media has insidiously infected the movies we watch.

December 2005 was a month I had looked forward to for some time. I had my first vacation in years and I really enjoyed going back east and visiting relatives I had not seen in 33 years. I managed to sneak in two blogs. One, The Arctic Issue Continues concerns the now old argument of whether or not to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. Unfortunately, this debate has not settled and I still feel we would be better off investigating in wind and solar research, as opposed to perpetuating our dependence on oil. Speaking of long debates, The DVD Situation is about a battle between two hi-definition DVD standards that is still unresolved. HD-DVD looked like it was in the lead about a year ago but suddenly, the slightly more technically advanced Blue-Ray has made strides and titles are starting to trickle in. I, personally don't know anybody who is using either technology at this point, though. It's still too early to tell.

January 2006 featured a favorite topic of mine, cars. I go to the L.A. Auto Show almost every year. This year, I noted how much horsepower that even, the most modest of cars has today in Cars, Cars, Everywhere but Not a Road to Drive. I had already decided that 2006 was going to be the year I bought a new car so the Auto Show had more than normal appeal to me. On a similar note, I got into how we got into the urban sprawl, driving mess that is the Los Angeles area, where I live. The Freeway Factor was where I graphically point out how the best intentions to make commuting fast and easy actually lead to the opposite effect.

February 2006 featured my bad prediction of the Superbowl outcome. I also wrote a piece on an argument I had had with my father-in-law during my Christmas vacation. In End of Faith, I was dismayed at how my father-in-law had lost his faith and was now blaming religion for all the problems in the world. My father-in-law is a devoted liberal and I now find it funny and ironic how he'd be a perfect poster boy for Ann Coulter's Godless book.

I also changed the appearance of the blog to the form that it is currently in today.

March 2006 started out with my "AutoQuest" series where I had the misadventures of buying a new car. All I can say about that is watch out for those scheming auto salespeople. They have no scruples. Later on in the month, I dive into the controversy that is illegal immigration with the somewhat satirical Welcome! In the past, people jumping the border looking for a better life in America never really bothered me. It always seemed unfair to me to think that I deserve to live in this country more than someone else. That's not fair, is it? However, in light of terrorism and our need to try to keep our nation safe, I am now forced to agree that something needs to be done concerning the ease of coming into America from Mexico or Canada.

April 2006 did not feature a lot from me. I probably did not have much to say that month. I did get into baseball's free agency issue where I lament that I hardly seem to know who is playing for the Dodgers anymore. I also bid Luc Robitaille farewell.

May 2006 was a more interesting month. I start off with The Threat where I express my concerns over Iran. Boy was I dead on right with that one! Iran is a scary nation right now. Kudos was my thank you to my fellow employees for showing up to work on a day that people of their nationality were encouraging them to take off and protest the very people who were providing them jobs. I can't help but notice that this past labor day was supposed to feature large rallies around the United States to protest our anti-illegal alien policies. Apparently very few showed up at these rallys. These protesters don't seem to have a problem leaving work or school to protest, but they must have a problem using a day off for such activities.

I got into the liberal media again with my It's About Time post. I sarcastically point out how some in the mainstream media are finally bothering to point out the U.S. has seen unprecedented economic growth in virtually all phases. The economy is usually at the forefront of news but amidst the stories of Iraq, Iran, North Korea, 911, and Brittany Spears, this little tidbit of news was seemingly forgotten. Of course, this wouldn't have anything to do with the media not wanting to cause Americans to think that maybe Bush's tax cuts weren't such a bad idea after all.

Da Vinci points to another film with a liberal agenda.

June 2006 did not see too many posts by me. I had a busy time at work. I posted my review of Cars, a film that I felt didn't have a liberal bias, by the way. June 2006 was when I posted my most notorious entry The Godless Religion. I call it notorious because of the response I got from it and not just from the usual suspect. It was another post about the liberal media. This time they targeted someone who could really fight back, that being Ann Coulter. While I can't quite agree with Coulter's style or the assertions she makes, I do admire how she faces her enemies and holds nothing back.

July 2006 featured a return to two favorite subjects of mine, cars and energy. In The 2.78% Solution, I point out the misleading promises of switching from gasoline to ethanol to power our vehicles. In What is an American Car?, I list what cars are actually made in America for those who think this is of importance.

Then the whole falling out with Erik occurred. I won't re-open that wound.

August 2006 started off with a topical discussion of the Mel Gibson drunk-driving occurrence. In Drunk Driving is Okay - Just Don't be an Anti-Semite, I point out how the media picks on Mel Gibson's anti-semitism, yet almost ignores his drunk driving, which, in my opinion, was much more potentially harmful.

I then revisit issues in baseball with This is Why They Fail. I predicted the Izturis for Maddux trade by the Dodgers would hurt the team in the long run. The Dodgers have done quite well since I posted that and actually might make the postseason. I personally don't attribute that to acquiring Maddux but I'm sure there are those who will disagree with me on that.

I do have a hidden counter going that doesn't click when I visit so it's pretty accurate (Thanks to Statcounter.com). As of right now, I've had 913 non-me hits. July was by far, the biggest month with 181 hits. That was, not so coincidentally, the month of the Ann Coulter post and the crap about Erik.

It's now September of 2006 and I'll trudge onward. I've learned a lot in the past year and fully intend on spewing out my pure drivel. For anyone who reads me, I thank you for putting up with me.